Estonian film festival refused to exclude from the program a scandalous film about Russian and Ukrainian lovers: the reason was given

The organizers of the Tallinn Dark Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) refused to exclude the film Deaf Lovers by Russian director Boris Guts about a romance between a Russian and a Ukrainian woman from their program, despite an appeal from the State Film Agency. According to Tiina Locke, who is the director of the event, the film reveals "hot issues" of our time, so it should be shown.

She said this in an interview with the Estonian public broadcaster ERR. The festival only agreed to remove the film from the Standing with Ukraine program, which is intended to support Ukraine.

"The film will be screened at PÖFF because we chose it for a reason. It is included in the program because it is artistically and content-wise very bright and gives us an opportunity to talk about the problems that are hot at the moment," said Tiina Locke.

The director of the Tallinn Film Festival noted that the world premiere of Deaf Lovers will take place within the framework of its program. She is convinced that the film will be subjected to unjustified negative criticism because no one has seen it yet.

"This film is being fiercely attacked by Russian oppositionists, Belarusians, and Ukrainians, whose views are, of course, very different, and this film can also be interpreted in very different ways, which is what makes it so charming," said the director.

In addition, Tiina Locke does not consider Deaf Lovers to be a Russian film. She argued that Boris Gutz left Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion, opposed the Kremlin regime, and now lives in Serbia. The festival director also added that the film was made at the director's own expense, with a minimal budget and an international team.

Deaf Lovers tells the story of a romance between a man from Russia and a woman from Ukraine. They met in Istanbul and began to communicate closely, but in sign language because of her hearing impairment. At that time, the Russian terrorist war was going on in the girl's homeland, which fueled the conflict between the couple. Constant arguments end in an act of violence by the boyfriend, and the girl leaves him. According to the organizers of the festival, this twist in the plot can be considered a metaphor, where "Ukraine rejects Russia as an empire that uses violence."

As a reminder, after the information about Deaf Lovers appearing at PÖFF was made public, the State Film Agency reacted to the inadmissible screening.

"We appeal to the organizers of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) to reconsider the decision to exclude the Russian film Deaf Lovers directed by Boris Guts from the main program of the festival. Given Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the numerous sufferings of the Ukrainian people, it is especially important to ensure that cultural platforms do not become tools for films that blur the boundaries of understanding the reality of Ukrainians," the State Film Agency said in a statement.

The institution returned attention to the fact that the screening of a Russian film carries the risk of spreading propaganda that justifies aggression and may be part of the enemy's information strategy.

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